By Carlos Salcedo

Blast From The Past – Melissa (1990)

I met Melissa during a story of homeless teenagers in Santa Clarita. Not only was she homeless, 19-years-old, but she was also 4 months pregnant. Sleeping in an alley next to a hardware store. The shopping cart, on the left, was her only possession and even she admitted that it was usually empty. The days after the story ran on Melissa, dozens of people came forward wanting to help her get off the streets. She took some of the help but not all. We lost track of her in the weeks following and were never able to locate her again.